Have you ever thought about the significance of dogs and dog references in our everyday use of language? It may be peculiar to the English language of course but even then, with English being spoken by such a large part of the world’s population the canine connection is pretty significant. Consider, if you will, these examples in no particular order.
We speak of someone’s dogged determination or doggedly pursuing an objective to indicate that they never give up but keep on relentlessly. The origin of that one is fairly easy to see as the relating to the way dogs pursue their prey, keeping going until the prey tires first and is then doomed.
Being given a dog’s life means being ill-treated, put upon or simply being treated as being of little worth. Why should that be when most dogs are held in high esteem by their owners and live quite pampered lives? Well, that may be true in the Western world today but just go back a few centuries and dogs occupied a place in the pecking order several levels below the position they now occupy.
When we champion the cause of the underdog we mean the less advantaged members of our society, or the sportsman/woman or team perceived to be the weaker contender. Some say that the origin of this term relates to the saw pits used in shipyards in the days of wooden ships and in other places where logs were sawn into planks. The long two-handled saws were operated by a man on top of the log and another below in the pit. The top man was always the more experienced and skilled. The one in the pit, frequently standing in water as well as being constantly showered with sawdust would be the apprentice or less skilled operative.
It is often said that the man on top was called the “Top-dog” whilst the unfortunate pit man was the “Underdog.” However, evidence to support this is virtually non-existent. It seems much more likely that the term originates from dog fights where the loser usually ends up underneath the victor. We also use the term, “Top-dog,” today to mean the opposite of “Underdog.”
Curiously, in the saw pit situation, the log was usually held in place and prevented from rolling by iron devices hammered into it which for some reason that remains obscure were called, “dogs.” That term crops up quite frequently in engineering, on board ships and indeed wherever something heavy needs to be held securely.
Speaking of engineering, a device used to mechanically connect two rotating shafts or other components rigidly without using friction plates and which can be disconnected at will is called a dog clutch. Maybe that refers to the way a dog, once it gets hold of something will refuse to let go until it is ready to do so. You find dog clutches inside your car gear box and in your microwave oven. The square spindle and the projections on the underside of the turntable that engage to make it revolve form a dog clutch.
Just to round off, fellers, have you ever been in the dog house? You won’t need telling what that is! Did you know that is also a term used to describe the raised part at the aft end of a yacht’s cabin roof, over the entrance? We’ve probably all undertaken a task and made a real dog’s breakfast of it! On a more positive note, it’s nice sometimes to go out on the town, all dressed up like a dog’s dinner. Quite why the dog’s breakfast should signify a mess and his dinner should signify smartness, no one seems to know. There is a rather less respectable side to all this too. For example, this is probably not the place to go into the other meaning of, “dogging”! Another example, a rather indelicate way of saying something is “the best,” I’ve also left out for the sake of propriety, though it didn’t stop a brewery using it as a name for one of its real ales. It’s a good pint too!